Amazon Prime Rewards Cardholders Now Earn 5% Back at Whole Foods

Alex Cohen

Feb 19, 2018

Good news for Amazon Prime Rewards cardholders!

Today, Amazon announced that those who have the Amazon Prime Rewards card will now earn 5% cash back on Whole Foods purchases, in addition to the 5% back, they already earn on Amazon purchases, 2% back on gas, dining and drugstore purchases, and 1% back everywhere else.

Amazon Rewards Visa Cardholders will receive 3% back at Whole Foods, in addition to 3% already earned at Amazon, 2% back on gas, dining and drugstore purchases, and 1% back everywhere else.

This new changes to these cards come just 6 months after Amazon announced that they were buying Whole Foods for a whopping $13.7 billion and makes the Amazon card even that much more exciting for folks who can now earn rewards on their grocery purchases.

Why This Matters

This is important for a couple reasons. It shows that Amazon is finally finding more creative ways of integrating the Whole Foods business into their overall strategy in addition to working hard to stay competitive with their credit card offerings.

However, they're not the only ones who offer a rewards credit card that earns bonuses on groceries. The Hilton Ascend Card by American Express earns 6x the points on all grocery, gas, and dining and the American Express Blue Cash Preferred earns 6% cash back on groceries, up to $6,000 in spend each year. Just note that these come with steep annual fees, compared to the Amazon card which has no annual fee but requires a Prime membership.

What makes Amazon stand out in this category is their ability to partner with specific brands and products to earn rewards. Unlike Amex, Amazon has the ability to partner with these brands to offer incentives that will push product, beyond what Whole Foods already offers as discounts when you shop. It'll be very exciting to see how this shapes up over the next 6-12 months.